War Memorial

THE HARBORNE WAR MEMORIAL

The Harborne War Memorial in St Peter’s Churchyard was erected by the whole community and dedicated on 20th September 1921. Ever since it has been the focus of the annual Remembrance Sunday observance in Harborne.
In autumn 2013 the Parochial Church Council of St Peter’s Church undertook the restoration of the memorial with generous financial support from the Harborne Ward Committee of the City Council, the War Memorials Trust, the Lillie Johnson Trust and several local benefactors. Many of the names had become, either partially or completely, eroded over the years. The skilful work of re-cutting the lettering was undertaken by the local stonemasons, William Parratt Masonry Ltd, who have long been associated with work on the church and in the churchyard.
Surprisingly little is known of the designer of the memorial, or of the dedication service and research is ongoing to discover more. Strangely, the names of those killed in the Second World War, which are known, were never added to the memorial; but that omission was at last rectified in October 2017, thanks to generous donations from the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, the Harborne Society and the Harborne Parish Charity - also several smaller donations from individuals.

In his sermon of 18th September 1921 the Vicar spoke of the memorial as a silent remembrance before God and Man. “As we and generations to come pass by it with some reverence we may well pray for the fallen, ‘Grant them thy peace’ and for ourselves ‘Make us worthy of the sacrifice they made.”

The Memorial was made a Grade II listed building in February 2016.

Film of the re-cutting of the lettering of the names on the War Memorial by Mike Murphy